“Hi there,” Maggie greeted her with a warm smile.
“We missed you last night,” Gloria said, her voice holding a mock-reproving tone.
Maggie stepped aside and gestured her in. “I know. I’m sorry. But things got a little crazy around here last night.”
“So you said.” She pinned her with a look. “If you didn’t want to come to my party, you could have just said so. You didn’t have to make up a story about a camel.”
“Hey, if you’ll remember, I did try to bow out, however…” She raised a clarifying finger. “At your persistent urging, I did intend to come—had planned to come—but, we had an uninvited guest stop by the house last night.” She raised her right hand. “Honest.”
“Right,” Gloria said dubiously, her blue eyes narrowed with suspicion. “A camel.”
“Yes, a camel,” Maggie said, as she reached to help Gloria with her armload of goodies.
“Anyway, since you missed out on the fun, I thought I’d bring you and Rickey some of our leftovers. Lord knows, we had plenty.”
“I appreciate it,” Maggie said, smiling her gratitude. “And I can assure you, Ricky will appreciate it too.”
“Where is the little guy?” Gloria asked, taking a seat at the kitchen island.
“Outside. I’ll call him in.” She crossed the room to the slider and pulled it open. “Ricky, come on inside. We have company.”
“Is it Officer John?” he cried eagerly, as he charged for the door.
“It’s Gloria,” Maggie told him.
“Gloria! Yay! Did she bring me a treat?”
“Don’t I always?” Gloria called.
“Yes,” came his exuberant reply.
Rickey dashed into the house and hurried to Gloria. He threw his arms around her and gave her a squeeze. “I missed you!” he announced.
“I missed you too,” she said, wrapping him in an embrace. Gloria had become like a grandmother to him within weeks of their move to town.
He finally pulled away from her, his eyes brimming with enthusiasm. “Did Mama tell you about the camel?” His face grew serious. “He really banged up our house.” He turned to his mother. “Mama, you need to come outside and take a look.”
Maggie gasped. She’d forgotten all about the camel kicking the house. She should have hurried outside at first light. She took a deep breath and braced for the worst. “I’d better take a look,” she told her friend. “Care to join me?”
Gloria gave a shrug. “Why not?”
Maggie started for the back slider, just as the doorbell rang again.
“It’s Officer John!” Rickey cried. “He brought me a picture of the camel!”
Gloria gave Maggie a surprised glance. “You’re really serious about the camel…?”
“Yes!” Maggie said, giving her a chagrined glance as she hurried to the front door. She pulled it open and found John on her porch, dressed in civilian clothing. He held up one of the photos, as if to jog her memory. She smiled at the gesture and stepped back to allow him inside.
“Rickey is going to be so excited to see those,” she told him, indicating he should walk into the family room.
There, she discovered that Gloria and Rickey had stepped outside. Gloria suddenly popped her head into the room. “Maggie,” she said seriously, “you do need to have a look at this.”
Maggie detected from her tone that there was something amiss in the back. She shot John an apologetic look. “I guess the camel did some damage yesterday. I’d better have a look.”
He frowned with concern and followed her out of the house and into the backyard. He immediately registered Maggie’s alarm, when her body tensed beside him and she gasped with surprise. “Oh, my goodness!” she cried, her eyes fixed on the number of deep dents and gouges on the siding of her house.
John moved closer to the back wall, crouching down to assess the damage. He rose with a sigh and shook his head. “Wow,” he said, giving a low whistle. “This siding needs to be replaced.”
Maggie sighed, wondering what she should do. Should she submit a claim to her homeowner’s insurance, or was the owner of the wayward camel responsible for repairing the damage?
It was as if John read her thoughts. “This isn’t your responsibility,” he said. “The camel’s owner, or even the folks at the church, need to make this right.”
Maggie wrung her hands nervously, unsure what to do. But John was right. The camel had ruined her siding and someone needed to assure it was fixed.
“You weren’t kidding about the camel, were you?” Gloria murmured.
“No!” Maggie cried for the umpteenth time, and then seemed to register that she hadn’t introduced her new best friend to John. “Oh, Gloria, this is John Dutch, John, Gloria. Gloria and I work together at the Employment Security Office downtown.”
John extended a hand in greeting.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Gloria said, accepting his proffered hand.
“Do you have pictures for me?” Rickey asked, coming up beside John and tugging on his jacket.
John smiled his way. “I do. I printed out several for you.” He passed them to the eager five-year-old.
Gloria appeared just as eager to see the photos, since she hurried over to see them too.
“Look, Gloria,” Rickey said eagerly, “this is the camel we found in our backyard. Isn’t he awesome?”
She winced. “Well…”
John took a step closer to Maggie, who was presently examining the damage and seeming uncertain as to how to proceed. She turned to him and shook her head. “I … uh … wow.” She aimed a finger at a particularly damaged section of the siding. “It looks pretty bad,” she sighed.
He nodded in agreement. “It definitely needs to be repaired.” He checked his watch, but then appeared to remember something of import. “Is your husband working?” he asked.
She abruptly turned toward him, surprised by the question, but realized he’d apparently seen the wedding band she still wore on her finger. Her right hand immediately went to her ring finger. She began nervously twisting the ring, unaware she was doing it. She opened her mouth, to respond to his question, when Rickey spoke up first.
“My daddy died,” he said, his face solemn.
John’s face fell and his eyes filled with regret. “I’m sorry, I…”
Maggie waved off the apology. Referencing her husband was reasonable, in light of the ring still on her finger. She did feel awful for the look of anguish on his face.
“Well, what are we going to do about this siding?” Gloria said brusquely, in an obvious attempt to change the subject. “Frankly, that camel can’t get away with creating this kind of damage… ”
“I agree,” John said, and checked his watch again. He met Maggie’s eyes. “I’m going to call the station. Offhand, I don’t recall the name of the guy who owns the camel, but they’ll be able to pull my report and get a hold of it for me.”
“Oh, okay. That’s great.”
He went into the house, and Maggie followed a moment later. She found him sitting on the couch in her family room, engaged in conversation with someone. “Somebody needs to fix the siding of this house,” he said firmly, and then paused, listening. “Okay,” he said crisply, “I’ll run it by the homeowner.”
He clicked off his cell phone, and turned toward her. “I ended up speaking to the owner of the camel, but he’s insisting he’s not liable for the damage—or at least not entirely—because he says it’s not his fault the camel managed to escape the field adjoining the church. He says he’s a member of the church and that he’s going to speak to the pastor and church deacons, in order to determine who’s responsible.”
Maggie weighed the information with a downturn of her mouth. “I guess I’ll just wait and see what happens then. Did he mention when he might call back?” She gave a grateful smile. “Thank you so much for making that call for me, by the way,” she added.
He smiled in return, seeming almost self-conscious when he spoke. �
�You’re welcome.”
She checked her watch, which prompted him to rise. “Oh, I’ll get out of your hair,” he said.
“Oh, no, I wasn’t…” She smiled awkwardly. “I was going to say that it’s lunchtime. Have you … eaten?”
He shook his head. “I haven’t, but…”
“Have lunch with us!” Rickey cried, as he dashed into the room. “Mama, can we have cookies after lunch? Gloria brought us all kinds of good stuff.”
“I brought fudge,” Gloria stage-whispered for Rickey’s benefit.
“She brought fudge!” he cried.
Maggie turned to John. “She brought fudge.”
“Well, in that case, I’d be happy to join you all for lunch,” he said, his eyes twinkling with humor.
“Well, have a seat everybody, and I’ll get busy making sandwiches.”
“Do you need any help?” Gloria and John asked in unison.
“Oh, no, I’ve got it covered,” she assured them.
Gloria ushered Rickey into the family room, where he promptly began showing her a puzzle he was working on. John surprised Maggie by pulling up a stool at the kitchen island. Having him within close proximity, his eyes on her as she began assembling sandwiches, made her feel self-conscious of her movements.
It was odd having a man in her kitchen again. She’d prepared meals for Shane hundreds of times over the years, and often bemoaned the drudgery of trying to figure out what to cook each lunchtime or dinnertime. Now, she would give anything to have another mealtime together with her husband.
Apparently John saw something in her facial expression, since he asked quietly, “Are you okay?”
She glanced at him, her eyes widened. “Oh, I’m fine,” she assured him, forcing a smile. She couldn’t very well tell him that having him in her home made her think about her dead husband and that it was taking every ounce of self-control not to break down crying.
Lord, give me strength, she prayed silently.
When was she going to be able to move on? When was she going to be able to go about her day, without everything she laid eyes on reminding her of what she’d lost?
She shook her head to clear it. “Did you get much sleep last night?” she asked John, desperate for neutral territory.
He nodded. “Working swing shift, I usually get home shortly after three. I try to get to bed soon after, and try to get six or seven hours sleep.”
“I’d try for eight,” she said, smiling.
“Well, I try, but I seem to do okay with six or seven.”
She furrowed her brow. “So you work a longer shift then?” She remembered that a customary swing shift was eight hours—typically three or four in the afternoon until midnight.
He nodded. “I work four days on, three days off, twelve hours each shift.”
“Long days,” she mused.
“But the three days off make it nice,” he told her. “And although I work Friday night and into the early morning, I get the remainder of the weekend off.”
She nodded and then passed him a sandwich. “Gloria, Rickey, lunch is ready.”
To Maggie’s surprise, Gloria picked up her and Rickey’s plates and returned to the family room. Fortunately, John missed the cheeky grin she tossed Maggie’s way.
“We have a puzzle to work on,” Gloria explained, as she rejoined Rickey on the couch. The two ate their sandwiches bent over the puzzle, with Rickey delighting at each successful placement of a puzzle piece.
Maggie reached for a stool and pulled it around to the other side of the island. It was a bit awkward, since the island top didn’t extend out on this side, but she just didn’t feel comfortable sitting on a stool beside John. It was too close for comfort. She hadn’t been this close to a man since Shane passed.
Suddenly, John’s cell phone trilled and he pulled it from his pocket. He glanced at the number and gave Maggie a slight nod as he answered it. “It’s the owner of the camel,” he whispered.
He rose and left the room to take the call. When he returned, he made a frustrated face. “I guess there’s some dissention as to whose responsibility it is to fix the damage to your place.”
Maggie watched his face, as he gave a grimace. “I’m afraid the camel’s owner is busy for the next week or so, but says he’ll stop by at some point to have a look at the damage.”
“At … some point,” Maggie said, her face conveying her surprise. She was a patient person, but surely the camel’s owner understood he had a responsibility to fix her house.
John gave a fatigued sigh. “He suggested that you file a homeowner’s claim…”
Maggie gasped, but followed by taking a deep, shoring breath. “I suppose I might as well. I’m afraid, however, that after they fix the place, they will go after his insurance to recover the repair costs anyway.”
John nodded. “You’re right.” He stood silently for a moment, as if deep in thought. “The weatherman is predicting cold and rain over the next few days,” he murmured. “I’m afraid water may manage to get into the dents and gouges and cause even more damage.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, and his eyes widened as if he had an idea. “I’ll fix the damage,” he announced.
Maggie smiled uncertainly. “I can’t ask you to…”
“You didn’t ask.” He smiled. “I will take plenty of pictures of the damage, and give both the photos and receipts to the camel keeper, and the folks at the church. I have no doubt someone will make it right.”
“But it’s not your job to make anything right,” Maggie reminded him. She tugged at her lower lip with her teeth, a nervous gesture that made her look vulnerable—which made him want to help her even more.
He waved off her concern. “I can swing by the home improvement store, pick up materials, and have the siding replaced in no time.”
“Are you…?” Maggie winced, as if afraid to ask the question in its entirety.
“What?”
“I mean, are you good with … tools and … such?”
He gave a burst of laughter. “Tools and such?” He bit back his laughter and nodded. “I worked construction in order to pay my way through college. I’m pretty handy with tools and such,” he said, chuckling again.
Maggie watched him, uncertain what to do. Should she let him help her out? It certainly wasn’t his responsibility.
Wait. She could make the repairs herself. How hard could it be? Nailing siding into place couldn’t be too difficult. Could it?
“I really appreciate your offer to help,” she told him. “But I can’t ask you to give up your time. I think I could probably do the repairs myself.”
He appeared to force back a smile—or perhaps it was a guffaw of laughter. Gloria didn’t hold back her laughter, however. “Oh, Maggie, let the man help you!” she urged. “It isn’t just the siding that’s damaged. It’s the trim too. You need a professional.”
Maggie hesitantly raised her eyes to John. “Are you sure you don’t mind helping?”
“Not at all.” He checked his watch. “Do you happen to have a tape measure?” He abruptly shook his head. “Actually, don’t worry about it. I need to run home and get my tool box.”
Maggie heaved a worried sigh. “I really don’t feel right about…”
He waved off her concern. “Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.” He smiled and hurriedly polished off his sandwich. He started for the front door. “I’ll see you all in a while.”
Maggie sighed again, but he smiled reassuringly as he strode out of the house. She closed the door behind him and returned to the family room.
Gloria left her place on the couch and joined her in the kitchen. She gave a cheeky smile. “The hunk likes you,” she said in a sing-song voice.
“What? No,” she protested. “He’s the police officer who responded to the call last night. He…”
“… Likes you…”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake. He’s a nice man. That’s all.”
Maggie sat down and took a bite of her sandwich. Gloria
gave her an assessing glance. “The man is interested,” Gloria said, pinning her with a look.
“No, he isn’t.”
Gloria gave a dubious chuckle. “Don’t even try to deny it. You two have chemistry.”
“What’s chemistry?” Rickey asked, as he pulled up a stool and sat down at the island.
Maggie shot Gloria a dirty look. The last thing she needed was Rickey bringing up the subject of chemistry with John when he returned. It wouldn’t be the first time her little boy had said or repeated something embarrassing.
“Honey, did you finish your puzzle?” she asked, attempting to distract him.
“No. What’s chemistry?”
“It’s a subject in school that I flunked,” Gloria told him, making an unhappy face. “Try as I might, I could never understand chemistry.”
“I don’t get it,” Rickey said. “If Mama and John have chemistry, does that mean they’re gonna go to school?”
“No,” Maggie said crisply, giving Gloria a dirty look.
She came to the rescue. “I wonder if John will let Rickey help him repair the damage from that awful camel?”
Rickey perked right up. “Do you think he will? I want to help!” He slid off the stool and ran out of the room.
“Where’d he go?” Gloria asked.
Maggie shrugged and gave her a chagrined glance. “Gloria! You’re in trouble.”
She gave an unconcerned shrug in return. “I call it like I see it,” she said. “That man is interested.”
“Yeah, sure,” Maggie said with a snort.
Rickey suddenly charged into the room, wearing a toy tool belt but carrying a real hammer—albeit a small one. “I have a hammer!” he cried eagerly. “I can help Officer John.”
“Sure you can,” Gloria said. “I just bet he’d be glad for the help.”
“Mama, do you have a nail so I can practice before he gets here?”
Maggie shook her head regretfully. “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t. I’m sure … John … will have all the, er, nails we’ll need.”
“I’m sure he will,” Gloria said, nodding in agreement.
“Okay, well, I’m going outside to see what all needs to be done,” Rickey said importantly.
The Happiest Season Page 3